Agency fills many needs in Rensselaer County area

That sounds like enough, "but that isn't all of what we do," said Kathryn Patton, program outreach coordinator for the non-profit agency. "As a matter of fact, the bulk of the services we provide, all of which are free, meet the more basic needs of life: food, clothing and shelter."

Mrs. Patton, the only paid employee in the diocesan Catholic Charities' program, is proud of what CoNSERNS-U has accomplished in its 21 years of service. (The acronym stands for Community Network of Schodack, East Greenbush, Rensselaer, Nassau and Sand Lake Unit.)

Volunteers

CoNSERNS-U also provides referral for qualified families to county, state and federal social service programs, such as WIC, food stamps, child care and Medicaid. In addition, it acts as an advocate in areas of building self-esteem in children and adults, and job placement through a grant from the New York State Department of Labor.

"Through monies from this grant, we are able to work with families that fall under the poverty level established by the federal government," she said.

Needs met

Once such immediate needs have been met, case management and referral begins.

"Often, the families that come to us will qualify for programs," she explained. "Sometimes, the families are not aware of what they qualify for."

School work

"In the city schools, we provide mentoring and case management services for students through the New York State Child and Family Services program as well as providing job skills through the PAVE program [progressive adolescent vocational education)," Mrs. Patton said. "We also have classes on self-esteem and anger management that are available to students at the Catholic school."

Located near St. John the Evangelist Church, Mrs. Patton's office coordinates fund-raising programs throughout the year for CoNSERNS-U. "Our program recently sponsored a food pantry fundraiser that was a great success," she said. "This helped to raise community awareness of the many families we serve during the summer months."

In addition to all the work that Mrs. Patton and her volunteers do, they also provide parenting classes during an eight-week course. Funds are made available for the classes through collaboration with Circles of Mercy, a service group sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in Albany.

(The next fundraiser is the annual CoNSERNS-U spaghetti dinner, Oct. 17, 4:30-7 p.m. at the Greenbush Reformed Church in East Greenbush. Volunteers and those seeking help can call Mrs. Patton at 463-8571.)

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